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Home My WebLink AboutOrdinance 11825ORDINANCE NO. 1/ ~ ~s AN ORDINANCE AMENDING DIVISION 2 OF CHAPTER 2, "ADMINISTRATION," OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH (1986), AS AMENDED, WHICH GOVERNS THE FUND FROM WHICH LUMP SUM PAYMENTS SHALL BE MADE UPON THE DEATH OF RETIRED MEMBERS OF THE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT FUND OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH; CHANGING THE TERM ADMINISTRATOR TO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND SUCH APPOINTMENT; CLARIFYING ELIGIBILITY FOR DEATH BENEFIT PAYMENTS; PROVIDING FOR BENEFIT PAYMENTS DIRECTLY TO FUNERAL HOMES OR TO HEIRS, EXECUTORS OR ADMINISTRATORS UPON PRESENTATION OF STATED LEGAL INSTRUMENTS; MAKING THIS ORDINANCE CUMULATIVE AND REPEALING ALL OTHER ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR THE ENGROSSMENT AND ENROLLMENT OF THIS ORDINANCE; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS: THAT THE ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A DEATH BENEFIT PLAN FOR RETIRED MEMBERS OF THE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT FUND OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS IS HEREBY AMENDED AND REENACTED IN ITS ENTIRETY TO READ AS FOLLOWS: SECTION I. Section 2-226. continuation of Death Benefit Furid. Ordinance No. 6235, as adopted by the City Council on January 26, 1970, created and established a fund designated as the "Retired Employees' Group Death Benefit Fund" from which lump sum payments are made upon the death of retired members of the Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Fort Worth, Texas. That fund is still in existence and shall continue operation as herein set forth . Section 2-227. $ppropriations to Fund. The City shall continue to annually appropriate to the Retired Employees' Group Death Benefit Fund such amount or amounts as may be necessary to provide the lump sum payments hereinafter set forth in section 2-229 and to maintain the Retired Employees' Group Death Benefit Fund in an actuarially sound condition. Such appropriations shall continue to be made from current revenues, and, in the event such current revenues are insufficient, the City shall compute, ascertain and levy an ad valorem tax sufficient to raise and produce the money required to appropriate and pay any additional sums which may become due during any such year. The City shall levy a sufficient tax from year to year to provide the revenue from which such appropriations may be made. Section 2-228. pefinitions. With reference to the Retired Employees' Group Death Benefit Fund, the following words, terms and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them herein, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning. The masculine pronouns wherever used herein, shall include both the male and female persons. A. Board shall mean the Board of Trustees of the Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Fort Worth. B. Designated beneficiaries eligible to receive the death benefit hereunder shall. include the member's surviving legitimate children, legitimate grandchildren and legitimate great- grandchildren. C. Executive Director shall mean the individual appointed by the Board of Trustees, subject to the approval of the City Council, to supervise the operation of the Fund. D. Filing shall mean, for purposes of determining the surviving designated beneficiary, the date when the beneficiary designation card is actually received by the Retirement Office. E. Legitimate children shall mean those children legitimate to their respective parent(s), as legitimacy is defined by the Texas Family Code and the Texas Probate Code, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, as amended. F. Legitimate grandchildren shall mean those grandchildren whose parent is a legitimate child of the member and who are legitimate to their respective parent(s), as legitimacy is defined by the Texas Family Code and the Texas Probate Code, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas,- as amended. G. Legitimate great-grandchildren shall mean those great- grandchildren whose grandparent is a child of the member and who are legitimate to their respective parent(s), as defined by the Texas Family Code and the Texas Probate Code, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, as amended. H. Members shall mean the eligible employees of the City of Fort Worth who are participants in the Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Fort Worth. I. Retired Employees' Group Death Benefit Fund shall mean the fund from which lump sum payments are made upon the death of retired members of the Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Fort Worth if said member retired after January 1, 1970. -2- J. Surviving spouse shall mean the widow or widower legally married to the member at least one (1) year immediately prior to the member's retirement from the City of Fort Worth and at the time of the member's death. Section 2-229. Entitlement to Death Benefit. When a member of the Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Fort Worth dies subsequent to retirement from active employment with the City, the surviving spouse shall be entitled to receive (in addition to benefits provided by the Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Fort Worth) a lump sum payment of three thousand dollars ($3,000.00). If the deceased member leaves no surviving spouse and has filed a beneficiary designation card with the Retirement Office naming a surviving designated beneficiary as defined herein, a lump sum payment of three thousand dollars ($3,000.00) shall be made in full to said surviving designated beneficiary. Upon written request by the surviving spouse or designated surviving beneficiary after the death of the member, the Executive Director may directly pay the death benefit, or the portion thereof to the funeral home necessary to satisfy the member's funeral expenses. If the deceased member leaves no surviving spouse or surviving designated beneficiary, a lump` sum payment of three thousand dollars ($3,000.00) shall be made to the estate of the deceased member upon presentation to the Executive Director of one of the following legal instruments: (1) letters testamentary; (2) letters of administration; (3) muniment of title; (4) affidavit of small estate; or (5) judgment declaring heirship. The lump sum payment herein provided shall be made in lieu of any payments to which the survivors or estate of the deceased member would have been entitled under the City's group life insurance plan during the member's period of active employment with the City. This lump sum payment of three thousand dollars ($3,000.00) shall not be payable to those members (1) who retired before January 1, 1970 or (2) whose coverage at the time of death was otherwise extended under the permanent and total disability feature of the City's group life insurance plan. Section 2-230. Executive Director of Death Benefit Fund. The Executive Director of the Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Fort Worth shall be charged with the duty of making the lump sum payments herein provided for, and such payments shall be made solely from funds appropriated by the City Council for such purpose. The Executive Director shall maintain such records as may be necessary in the administration of the Retired Employees' Group Death .Benefit Fund. The Executive Director shall maintain a special accounting of the funds heretofore and hereby appropriated, and the Executive Director shall not make any payments authorized -3- hereunder from funds contributed by the employees or the City under the provisions of the Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Fort Worth or from earnings on such contributions. Section 2-231. Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees of the Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Fort Worth shall act on behalf of the City Council of the City of Fort Worth as Trustees of the Retired Employees' Group Death Benefit Fund under the same provisions, regulations and procedures as provided in the Retirement Ordinance of the City for the investment of funds of the Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Fort Worth. All records and earnings on the assets of the Retired Employees' Group Death Benefit Fund shall be maintained separate and apart from assets and earnings of the Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Fort Worth. SECTION II. If any provision, section, part, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or paragraph of this Ordinance shall be declared invalid or unconstitutional, the same shall not affect any other portion or provision hereof, and all other provisions shall remain valid and unaffected by any invalid portion, if any, and the City Council now says that if it had known at the time of the passage of this Ordinance that any portion of said Ordinance was invalid, it would not have adopted such invalid part. SECTION III. The City Council finds that all acts, conditions and things required by provisions of the Constitution of Texas and Charter and Ordinances of the City of Fort Worth precedent to and in the adoption of this Ordinance have been done, have happened and have been performed in proper and lawful time. -4- ~ 1 a SECTION IV. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after the date of its adoption and it is so ordained. APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: /~0'li City Attor y U Date : ~-2 ~~~~ ADOPTED •~ ! - ~~ EFFECTIVE: ~- ~ ~~ -5- City of Fort Worth, Texas Mayor and Council C~-mmunication DATE 02/07/95 REFERENCE NUMBER **G10961 LOG NAME 13DEATH PAGE 1 of 1 SUBJECT AMENDMENT TO THE RETIRED EMPLOYEES' DEATH BENEFIT ORDINANCE RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached amendments to the ordinance pertaining to the Retired Employees' Group Death Benefit Fund DISCUSSION On January 26, 1970, the City Council adopted Ordinance No 6235 which established the Retired Employees' Group Death Benefit Fund to make lump sum payments upon the death of retired members of the Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Fort Worth According to the current ordinance, such payments are made to the surviving spouse, surviving designated beneficiary or to the member's estate The ordinance has been amended to state what legal instruments are required in order to obtain benefits for all members Also, due to recent changes to the Retirement Ordinance of the Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Fort Worth, the title of the Retirement Administrator has been changed to Executive Director, this individual oversees also the business of the Retired Employees' Group Death Benefit Fund FISCAL INFORMATION/CERTIFICATION The Director of Fiscal Services certifies that no expenditures of City funds are required for this action CB w Submitted for City Manager's FUND ACCOUNT CENTER AMOUNT CITY SECRETARY Office by: (~o) Charles Boswell 8500 APPROVED Originating Department Head: ~~~~ ~®t'~~~e Jim Keyes 8517 (from) f ~B ~ .~~~~ For Additional Information ~~~ ~,~~ j Contact: (;{ty 5~.~ p(y~ ' Jim Keyes 8517 City Ot POfCt 11! va~. 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